ChicagoCon is poised to become the premier security event in the industry by bringing together the biggest names in education and certification under one roof for a week of security training like no other. In the city of broad shoulders, we plan to not only work hard in class and during the evening presentations but also play hard in the hacker contests and final blowout celebration. And when all is said and done, your career will be leaps and bounds ahead of where it currently is.

With boot-camp style classroom training, ChicagoCon will host 11 classes featuring a cross-section of the security landscape. From the novice, to the ultimate techie to those reaching for the CISO chair... everyone interested in a career in security will find something at ChicagoCon, your one-stop shop for security training and certification.

Each morning we will start the day with a continental breakfast and morning keynote. Class starts promptly at 9:00 AM. Lunch is at 12:30 followed by an afternoon of more classroom time. After a short evening break, review sessions will complete your classroom activities for the day... Then the fun starts.

With dinner being provided most nights at the event, you will move right into evening presentations. Starting with the Softcore Sessions, we'll cover topics such as career advancement and policy discussions. Then we'll move into the Hardcore Sessions with hacking demonstrations and in-depth technical discussions.

Your brain will be mush, but that's a good thing!

Better get to bed in the optional hotel room package to do it all over again the next day. We highly recommend, even though you may be a local attendee, to stay at one of the host hotels. Eliminating all outside distractions will help you concentrate on your studies and advancing your career.

Course Offerings:It's been brought to my attention that anyone can put on a boot camp, but it's the instructors that make all the difference in the world. For that reason, we chose to partner with some of the top training providers. Each partner is also offering discounts to their normal prices for ChicagoCon attendees.

The Training Camp - Global provider of training that has been awarded by (ISC)2, EC-Council, Redmond Magazine, SC Magazine, Windows IT Mag, and more.

The InfoSec Institute - Highly regarded in the industry with such quality instructors as Jack Koziol, the InfoSec Inst has Microsoft, the CIA, DoD and many others on its roster of clients.

Location:With a plush 180-seat auditorium, 10 additional classrooms with computers, whiteboards and projectors, as well as meeting space and lounge areas for the students to eat, relax and network with colleagues, ChicagoCon 2007 is proud to select MicroTrain as the venue for our premier security event.

I registered today and i can't wait to take the 7-day CISSP. I am looking at buying books now to perpair before the class. I encourage the rest of you to get registered soon to make sure you get the course you want to take.

As those of you who know me can attest, I'm quite fond of giving away prizes. I also like to spring a few extra goodies on people when they don't expect them. So here is one of those moments...

Brian,

As it turns out, you were not only the first person to register for the CISSP course, but you were also the first person overall to signup for ChicagoCon. Because of that, how about a virtual door prize? I sent you a box worth over $2000 full of everything you'll need (and then some) to pass the CISSP exam including several CISSP study books, Shon Harris videos from Career Academy and more.

Here's another little update. We are about to finilize the last 2 keynote slots. We are in final negotiations with an executive from Symantec and someone from the Department of Defense.

This will give us the big name in Dvorak, hacking by Spitzner, physical security with Hunt and the last two will round out the field with a corporate guy and a government guy. That should just about cover it.

Now that we have the site live, registration is open and keynotes are filled, I will start coordinating the evening schedule with hacker contests and presentations on numerous topics. We have a lot of great speakers lined up, and I can already see that it's going to be difficult to find time for all of them. Oh well, that's a good problem to have.

Next week is a big one for us as a number of email blasts will be going out to try to blanket the industry about ChicagoCon 2007...

This is where I need everyone's help.

The time has come for me to ask: Are you ready to do a service for your Don?

I am going to submit the main ChicagoCon Web Page to digg on Monday afternoon. We then have 24 hours to get enough votes to make it on the front page. I'll post the link here, click on it, place your vote by digging it and off we go. It's never been more vital for the community to help out. After voting yourself, please help spread the word to get as many diggs as we can.

I'm usually the one giving, but now I need to ask for your help.

While we're at it, here's some good news. The 5 Keynote spots have all been inked, and the 2 new spots are being filled by:

Doug Steelman, DoD

Doug Steelman was introduced to information technology and security while serving in the United States Air Force 16 years ago. He earned his B.S. in Computer Science during this service. After his tour in the military Doug established information security programs in the private sector for five years before returning to DoD. He has led Computer Network Defense (CND) and Information Assurance (IA) efforts for multiple DoD organizations. These include the Pentagon CIRT, the Counter Intelligence Field Activity (CIFA), and Headquarters Army. He is committed to developing CND/IA across DoD’s Global Information Grid (GIG) and working to improve the GIG’s collective security posture and defense capabilities.

Vincent Weafer - Sr. Dir. of Dev, Symantec Security Response

Vincent Weafer is responsible for the Symantec Security Response global research center teams. His mission is to advance the research into new Internet security threats and to provide the most trusted and rapid response to today’s complex threats and security risks. His team has also been responsible for the development of key security technologies such as NAVEX—extensible anti-virus engine technology, Bloodhound—virus heuristic detection technology, SARA—virus acquisition and analysis infrastructure and the security vulnerability and risk analysis database. Weafer has presented papers at technical conferences such as the European Institute for Computer AntiVirus Research (EICAR). He has been quoted extensively in the global press and also speaks regularly at conferences and seminars throughout the world such as Interop Las Vegas, Business 4 Site Conference, Forum on Information Security in Government and the DoD Cyber Crime Conference.

Could use everyone's help in getting this event off to a running start and ensuring its future success. Tell everyone you know to digg this this within the next 24 hours to attempt to make their front page.

Tell one, tell all... or as they say in Chicago, vote early and vote often.

I just Dugg it and pasted the word along to some other friends! We need all of the community here to help out! Go to www.digg.com and sign up if you do not have an account it's free and it will help Don and this network/community out alot!

Brian

Come on and help out as everyone here is welcomed and helped by Don time to pay back the favor!

How many diggs does it need to make it to the front page? I see it has 56 now, and there's one on the front page with only 44. Is that because that one received those 44 in a shorter time span or something?